6 “Healthy” Habits That Could Be Doing You More Harm Than Good

Why does everyone think theyre like, the healthiest person in the world? If you did one spin class, stopped at Sweetgreen afterwards, and suddenly think you’re worthy of starting some #fitspo Instagram account, you need to chill. People (not me) need to realize theyre not qualified to be giving health advice online, and tbh most things people believe to be super healthy are just wrong. The internet is filled with a lot of bullshit wellness advice, so were here to set the record straight, starting with these six habits that you need to get over.

1. Eating A Super Early Dinner

Someone once made up a lie that eating late at night makes you fat. I mean, if youre ordering Chinese Fast Wok at 11pm, youre probably not the face of health, but food timing doesnt actually matter. Some psychos people like eating early because they dont like going to bed feeling super full, but there are actually no proven health benefits to eating dinner at 6pm. Like, yeah it’s the one time you’ll get a Sugarfish reservation, but its not actually making you lose weight. In fact, a lot of people eat an early dinner and then get hungry for a snack later on, so they end up eating more than they would have if they just waited a couple hours to eat in the first place.

2. Going On High-Fat, Low-Carb Diets

The newest fad seems to be these weird high-fat, low-carb diets. People swear by the Ketogenic lifestyle, which basically means eating no carbs and just pounding meat and avocados all day. I mean, its not healthy. Just because Demi Moore lost a few pounds on the Atkins diet doesnt mean its right for everyones body. The theory behind these diets is that your body goes into ketosis (which sounds like a serious condition but what do I know), so your insulin levels lower and your body burns fat quicker. Were not here to question some scientists in a lab in Missouri, but youre better off skipping the extreme high-fat diets and just eating a balance of fats, protein, and carbs. Like, try eating a vegetable for once in your life.

3. Doubling Up On Workouts

With ClassPass leading the nicegirl fitness community and your local SoulCycle front desk staff offering you free classes, people are doubling up on workouts, thinking theyre being fucking heroes for staying on a spin bike for 90 minutes straight. I mean, we get the logic behind it: The more exercise you do, the more calories you burn, so the skinnier you get. However, your body isnt a calculator, and the extra workouts could just be depleting your metabolism completely. If youre doing an excessive amount of cardio, you could be overtraining your body and slowing down your metabolism, which will actually make you gain weight in the long run. Stick with one class. Like, how much free time do you have?

4. Eating A Ton Of Protein

Protein is another trend that has gotten v popular recently. All of a sudden, your grandmother is eating protein bars, 90-pound models are buying bodybuilding protein powders, and your favorite peanut butter brand is adding whey protein isolate to their products. Everyone thinks we need an excessive amount of protein to be healthy, and its just not true. Obviously protein is good for us and we need it to survive, but you dont need to be adding in protein supplements to everything you eat. Its important if youre looking to put on some muscle, but if youre replacing fruits and veggies with Quest Bars, youre overdoing it. The average American eats way too much protein in the first place, which could, in the future, lead to issues like an increased risk for diabetes and kidney problems. Just saying, you probably don’t need that protein powder in your smoothie anyway.

5. Avoiding Egg Yolks

People in the 80s started shunning egg yolks from healthy diets in fear of high cholesterol levels. Nowadays, that myth has been completely debunked, but people still seem to hate on egg yolks. While its true that egg yolks have a tiny bit of fat in them and egg whites have none, there are a ton of health benefits to the yolks, like iron, folate, and a ton of essential vitamins. Eating the yolk isnt going to give you heart disease or make you fat, so stop stressing about only ordering egg white omelets if you dont even like them. Order the regular omelet.

6. Obsessing Over Superfoods

The whole superfood craze has become a little insane. We have nothing against some green juice and quinoa every now and then, but just because Gwyneth Paltrow swears by her daily goji berries, it doesnt mean we should start doing the same thing and think we’re gonna look like her. Were not saying superfoods arent good for you, but you shouldnt be loading up on aai bowls just because you heard they have antioxidants in them. Do you even know what an antioxidant is? Like, if youre literally sprinkling chia seeds on everything you eat just because you heard that Kourtney Kardashians trainer told her to do that, youve gone too far.